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Editor's Note

The Charge

"The gun…the greatest invention of mankind."

The Case

Known in the West primarily for historic epics Hero and Curse of the Golden Flower, as
well as the romance/wuxia mash-up House of Flying Daggers, Chinese director
Zhang Yimou is actually a filmmaker of diverse style who has experimented in
everything from quiet character studies (Riding Alone for Thousands of
Miles), to crime pictures (Shanghai Triad), to political dramas
(To Live). In 2009, Zhang decided to tip his artistic hat to two of his
favorite filmmakers: Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo). His goal was to remake the
Coens' first film, Blood Simple,
retelling the tale in true Zhang Yimou style. The end result was A Woman, a
Gun and a Noodle Shop (originally released as A Simple Noodle
Story).

Transporting the Coen's story to the Guan Province desert in 19th-century
China, A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop concerns the young and ornery
wife (Yan Ni, Kung Fu Dunk) of noodle shop owner Wang (Ni Dahong,
Curse of the Golden Flower). She is having an affair with one of the
shop's flamboyant employees. None-too-pleased, Wang hires an unscrupulous police
officer to murder the lovers. Matters are complicated by the cop's
double-dealing and the fact that Wang's wife has recently purchased a revolver
from a Persian trader. Much murder, mayhem, and, oddly enough, slapstick
ensues.

Ostensibly an Eastern remake of Blood Simple, A Woman, a Gun and a
Noodle Shop is more homage to the diversity of the Coen brothers' style than
an actual remake. While its plot retains the basic shape of the Coens' debut
feature, its tone is more of a kind with the absurdist comedy in Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski. Characters sport
bright costumes and bug-eyed visages. One has cartoonishly outsized buckteeth.
Pratfalls and cornball dialogue are plentiful. The movie's editing is sometimes
a frenetic mix of whip pans and smash cuts. The mash-up of styles is an
interesting experiment by Zhang Yimou, but one that doesn't quite work. It's
easy to appreciate the filmmaker's strong craftsmanship; to admire his attempt
at a style that diverges sharply from previous efforts like Hero and
House of Flying Daggers; and to respect his desire to pay homage to Joel
and Ethan Coen without merely copying them. But Blood Simple's story of
infidelity, sexual jealousy, murder, double-crosses, and blind stupidity is
surprisingly ineffective when separated from its Texas setting, neo-noir style,
and bleak, intimate tone. Zhang's use of slapstick and broad characters feels
empty compared to the grubby world of honky-tonks and duplicitous private
investigators in the Coens' movie, his vivid cinematography shallow compared to
Blood Simple's gritty chiaroscuro. A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle
Shop would be easier to appreciate if it didn't evoke the superior texture
of the film from which it borrows so liberally. Blood Simple grips the
viewer with its earnest tone and the irritatingly poor decision-making of its
lead characters. A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop holds the viewer at
arms' length with a self-conscious use of cinematic technique and zany
slapstick. Signature moments from Blood Simple—as when Frances
McDormand pins M. Emmet Walsh's hand to a window sill with a knife as he tries
to attack her—have little narrative power or emotional weight when
duplicated in Zhang's film.

Whatever its narrative flaws, A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop is a
good-looking movie. Zhang and his go-to cinematographer Xiaoding Zhao shot the
picture on high-definition digital video, digitally punching up the color timing
in post-production. The result is a crisp and vivid image with incredible depth
and detail. The heightened look is a perfect match for the movie's cartoon
sensibilities, though it undermines the story's emphasis on the depravity of the
human soul. This Blu-ray's 1080p/AVC transfer delivers startling color fidelity
and an image so clear it's like gazing through a window.

The single audio option is a DTS-HD master audio mix of the movie's original
Mandarin soundtrack. It's impressive in its fine detail, occasional bombastic
effects, and subtle use of the entire soundstage. There are optional English
subtitles, as well as a separate set of captions for the hearing-impaired.

Aside from a theatrical trailer, the only extra is Creating A Woman, A
Gun and a Noodle Shop, a collection of 19 featurettes that, combined,
run nearly two hours in length and cover nearly every aspect of the production.
The pieces, which favor behind-the-scenes footage over interview segments, can
be accessed individually from the Special Features menu, or viewed as a
feature-length documentary by way of a Play All option.

Zhang Yimou's A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop is a noble experiment
that ultimately fails. Undeniably beautiful to look at, it's a shadow of the
movie it aims to honor.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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